There’s something oddly comforting about walking into a production of The Rocky Horror Show already knowing exactly what you’re going to get. Fishnets. Corsets. Heckles. Opening night at Blackpool Grand Theatre felt less like attending a musical and more like participating in a ritual kept alive for over fifty years.
When Richard O’Brien first created Rocky Horror in the 1970s, it arrived in a world deeply invested in the idea of ‘getting back to normal’. Even after the relative freedom of the ’60s America was still clinging tightly to the post-war fantasy of suburban perfection with its neat lawns, heterosexual marriages and carefully maintained respectability. Anything outside of that was dangerous. Horror films, queerness, sexual liberation were often treated with suspicion or outright panic. Counterculture would corrupt young people, dismantle morality or somehow bring society crashing down entirely. What a glorious time for Frank-N-Furter to step on scene!
This touring production largely sticks to the formula audiences know and love. If you’ve seen Rocky Horror before, there are very few surprises structurally, but honestly, the crowd doesn’t seem to want reinvention. Rocky tells outsiders they can exist loudly and I still feels radical purely because it celebrates difference and pleasure without apology.
Musically, the production rarely loses momentum. The ensemble throw themselves fully into the chaos, with Time Warp unsurprisingly bringing the audience to life instantly. The set design leans into classic B-movie gothic excess, all dramatic lighting, leather and glitter-coated camp. Importantly, the cast understand that Rocky Horror only really works when performed with absolute sincerity beneath the absurdity. Every wink to the audience lands because the performers commit fully to the madness rather than parodying it.
Comedian Nathan Caton filled the narrator role with the right balance of control and chaos, homed in after a couple of years on the job. His jokes about the current political climate landed particularly well – modern Britain increasingly feels like a place where absurdity has become standard operating procedure. The idea of aliens transporting a gothic mansion back to Transylvania feels oddly more coherent than the actual news cycle.
On the night, Lucy Aiston stepped in for Helen Flanagan and handled it brilliantly, never allowing the energy to dip despite the pressure that inevitably comes with an opening night understudy announcement. Having previously played Anne Boleyn in a production of Six, Aiston clearly already possesses the vocal confidence and stage presence needed and here she takes to Janet’s iconic scream queen shoes with ease.
Of course, the centre piece is Stephen Webb as Frank-N-Furter. His long antici-pated entrance during Sweet Transvestite (undeniably one of musical theatre’s great moments) set the crowd into frenzy. Webb’s interpretation leans into something rougher and more masculine around the edges, inspired by glam rock icons like Bowie and Queen rather than attempting to replicate Tim Curry outright. There’s a coarse element to his Frank, balanced carefully against the vulnerability he shows in the final scenes.
Watching the show in 2026 did raise some thoughts for me. For a show originally designed to challenge social conformity, it now exists as part of the cultural establishment itself. The rebellion became heritage. That doesn’t mean the show has lost its power. Far from it. But perhaps there is room now for Rocky Horror to evolve slightly again, reflecting a new generation of people feeling othered, alienated or politically exhausted. Until then though, Rocky Horror remains exactly what audiences clearly still need: loud, ridiculous, sexy, deeply strange escapism. A place where for two hours people are allowed to be themselves, or if they fancy, someone else completely.
The Rocky Horror Show is at Blackpool Grand until 16th May. Get tickets here.
